Tunisia: UGTT and civil society organizations demand protection and support for migrants and refugees

Tunisia's national trade union center UGTT, together with civil society organizations, activists and members of parliament, has called on the government to take immediate measures to ensure that migrant workers, refugees and asylum seekers enjoy full access to medical services, prevention measures and social support in the COVID-19 pandemic. While the government agreed on April 7 to a limited number of measures including visa extensions, an April 10 appeal (available here in French) insists, in the name of solidarity, on targeted actions to fully protect the rights of non-citizens, including the right to medical services, regularization of migrants' residency status and easing the population currently in crowded migrant detention centers with an elevated risk of contagion. Most migrant workers in Tunisia are from sub-Saharan Africa.

The UGTT, whose tourism and food federation is affiliated to the IUF, has regularly condemned the exploitation of undocumented workers in the country and last February began setting up migrant worker support centers.

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The International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations (IUF) is an international federation of trade unions representing workers employed in agriculture and plantations; the preparation and manufacture of food and beverages; hotels, restaurants and catering services; all stages of tobacco processing. The IUF is composed of 427 affiliated trade unions in 127 countries representing over 10 million workers.